Historical Traveler Reviews Sensatori Sharm El-Sheikh by Coral Sea

Good Holiday

from michelmorehughes

6 of us stayed at the Conrad. We nearly changed holiday due to bombings and the work that is being done at the hotel, but decided to go with it. Hotel fab, staff great, food good lots to drink and eat. Beach was great with beach towel, sun beds and umbrellas. Very hot, but expected that.

Not an awful lot to do but laze about by pool and beach, which was nice but after two weeks some of us got a bit fed up. We went into Naama Bay to be hasselled by the egyptians to go into their shops. 5 of us went on boat trip, it was nice but the hotel jetty had more to see in the way of fish and corals. Enjoyed boat trip, had a video done of the fish and us all swimming but only 1 person purchased it due to the cost being £30.00. The boat trip with all food and drink only cost £26.00, we all thought the company doing the videos was trying to rip people off. He was not prepared to come down on price at all. Watch out for the egptians at the airport and walking over to coach they try to take your luggage off you to carry and want money to give it back to you. Due to the heat most of the guests were sick for 1 day with an upset tummy

The holiday was one of the best we have been on. Wouldn't say I would go back there again but I never go to the same place twice.

Great Hotel in a Fantastic Area!

from anonymous

First I'd like to start by saying that my holiday in the Sharm el Sheikh was probably the best I've ever had and i had a great time there. Me and my family stayed in the Conrad for 2 weeks all-inclusive, returning on the 27th of August. The hotel on the whole was excellent, but there were some issues involving the all-inclusivesness

As I've said the hotel was excellent, it looks amazing, the pool was great and the private beach which has its own coral reef was even better. I personally felt that the hotel was kept very clean and tidy and I had no complaints about the room which was well maintained by the hotel staff throughout my stay. I should mention that my family paid extra for the seaview, which was worth every penny, as can be seen from the pictures.

The hotel staff were friendly and always tried to help, the hotel also had a good array of facilities, including gym, bazaar, pool room and diving centre among others. The food was good if not brilliant, that is to say it was looked and tasted ok but it did seem a bit samey from day to day.

Most of the negative points for the Conrad stem fro the all-inclusive side of the holiday. The all-inclusive ends at 11pm on the dot which i felt was possibly an hour or so too early, after which you have to pay of course and it wasn't exactly cheap. Also what you got wasn't brilliant, drinks often came in plastic cups, were not always full and sometimes warm. As for the alcohol, it was all local and be be honest not very good. The beer was very gassy and i gave up on it after 3/4 days. The spirits weren't much better, they are all very strong and taste quite similar. another thing is that ice cream and popcorn aren't incuded in the all-inclusive aswell as the mini-bar in the room, this was very disappointing.

Earlier I mentioned that the staff were helpful and this is true, however they were very slow at times and didn't know how to pour a good beer, or measure spirits. (tipping helped this significantly but you shouldn't really have to.)

I was told that this hotel was new to all-inclusive and it shows. The hotel had a large Italian contingent, who got much better service than the british, (Probably because they weren't all-inclusive and were paying for every drink). Another point is the entertainment, my family and i didn't really think too much of this especially in the evening, each act was repeated twice during our stay and they weren't very good to begin with. also the entertainment stopped at 11pm with the all-inclusive drinks, so there wasn't much to do after this except to get an early night. If what you are after is a good night out I recommend Naama bay, as it has plenty to do and see and is alot less expensive than the hotel.

As for the area, Sharm el Sheikh is an amazing place with lots to do. I myself went on several trips including 2 days to cairo (to see the pyramids), snorkelling off Tiran Island and Ras Mohammad and quad biking in the Sinai desert. All were excellent and well worth the money i paid for them. I would definately return to Egypt, even to the same hotel even just for the beach and coral reefs.

Now just some general advice. Remember to have some small change for tipping especially at the airport when you arrive. It also worth paying for the visa which you'll need for most of the trips. Always try to haggle with prices because you can always get it cheaper even in the hotel shops.

Lastly don't be put of by the recent bombings, I was concerned before going, but soon forgot all about. There is lots of security and I always felt safe both in the Conrad Hotel and whilst outside.

I'm just going to finish by saying that the Conrad hotel itself is an excellent hotel which is only let down by the all-inclusiveness. The actual hotel really is very nice.

Wouldn't go back it was free!!

from anonymous

The Good!

Mr Salama, the General Manager, was a very nice and extremely helpful man. As was his No2, whose name I never learned. Both assisted me and my family on a number of occassions in resolving issues. (The alarming thing here is, in 14 years of holidaying I have never before had to speak to a hotel General Manager in order to resolve hotel issues).

The majority of staff were very helpful and all were polite, even those attempting to fleece you out of your money (more to follow).

The house reef, at the end of the jetty was fantastic. The fish and coral was spectacular and could easily be some of the best in the world. The Lion Fish "family" were ever present and were stunning. I counted 6, 4 larger ones and 2 somewhat smaller.

The Fitness Suite was reasonable. There are 2 treadmills, a static bike, an air walker and a twisting thingy. It also has a ful range of weights machines, lat pulldowns, shoulder press, bench press, etc. There is a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. All-in-all, plenty for all but the olympian.

The hotel clinic and doctor were very good if not expensive. It is £32 for a consultation with the doctor, medication costs are extra.

The pool area is reasonable, there are plenty of sunbeds but to be sure to get one you need to wake up early and put your towels out. Everybody does it so don't feel guilty. I would put my towels out at 06:00hrs. I was never the first and by 07:00hrs all were taken. There are a lot more sunbeds on the beach and a vast amount of parasols. Most people, if not all, could find somewhere to catch the rays. Actually, not catching the sun is harder.

The Bad!

I will start with the general appearance of the hotel. Upon arrival it looked good and we felt that the brochure had not done the place justice. However, upon closer examination, the hotel rooms are tired, there is much staining of the bathroom suites, taps and cisterns leaking. The furniture is functional but showing signs of age. The kingsize bed in our "superior" room was a little softer than a concrete slab.

There are many chipped tiles in and around the pool area. I witnessed 8 people accidentally cut themselves whilst playing in the pool. Also many of the older style sunbeds are well passed their sell by date. I witnessed 2 collapse with people sat/laying on them.

The food! The good news is; there is a different theme for each of the 14 nights of your holiday. The bad news is; the only thing that changes is the name of the theme. The reality of the evening meal is this; there are 5 metal heated food warmers. No1 contains rice, No2 contains vegetables, No3 contains potatoes, No4 some meat (usually chicken, occassionally beef) and No5 contains fish (mostly calamari, at other times sea bass). On some occassions the evening meal look like re-presented lunchtime offerrings, whilst at other times the lunchtime selection looked like re-done breakfast, especially the sausages. The soups and breads are highly recommended, as are the breakfast omelettes.

The drinks! are dire. For the first 3 days all we got when asking for a beer was a flimsy plastic cup half filled with beer and the rest froth. Others (those in their 2nd week) were getting glasses full to the brim. Not being shy, I ask the score and found out the following...Here is your first top tip! Tipping in this hotel is not done after recieving good service...it is done in advance in order to avoid being ripped off or poorly served. Once you grease the wheels of commerce the barman suddenly learn how to poor a perfect beer. The same goes for cocktails. There is a special menu for the all-inclusive cocktails, read carefully as many of these are non-alcoholic; refreshing but not neccessarily adequate for the drinking man/woman. All were very weak until the "bribe", sorry I mean "tip" was made. 2nd Top Tip...don't bribe all the barmen. Pick one at each bar give him a reasonable back-hander (20/30LE - £2/£3) and he will look for you everyday, he will also tell his chums to look out for you when he is on his breaks. So that is how to get a reasonable quantity of alcohol. Unfortunately I cannot say how to get decent quality as all of the local spirits are a bit like petrol. They have all the names; rum, whisky, vodka etc, but they all taste much the same; fiery but little taste.

It was not uncommon for the pool bar to run out of beer in the late afternoon, although they always had some if you wanted to buy it. Finally on the subject of beer, you never get a bottle of beer at the hotel unless you purchase it. The bar staff are told to get at least 3 drinks from each 500ml bottle.

The Staff! There is one particular front desk worker who is little short of a crook. I will not name him, for legal reasons, but he works the morning shift. He overcharged me for transport into Na'ama Bay and when questioned told me it was because of the exchange rate. He then falsly recorded the sum of money in his records to hide the overcharging. I reported this to the General Manager and was reimbursed my cash. The sum of money was not great but it was the principle. Similarly, the same man took our money when paying our room bill and then failed to stamp our reciept. He only stamped it when we insisted that he did so. To add insult to injury he attempted the same scam, on us, 3 times. Another Top Tip...if you incur room costs, laundry, room service, mini bar, etc. pay your room bill every 2 - 3 days. This way you will be able to check and verify every item. If you leave it to the end you might find "extras" that you don't recall having. I avoided this, but others got stung and were told by the First Choice rep to prove that they didn't have them.

The mini-bar is not all-inclusive and the costs are extortionate. £1.40 for a regular size mars bar, twix or bounty. Beers, wine, water and savoury snacks equally over-priced. Little shop at the Baron Hotel next door much better for water and soft drinks. Top Tip...have the mini bar emptied and fill it with your own stuff bought at shops in Na'ama Bay.

The Hotel Shops! There is a small parade of shops in the hotel. They are over priced...typically 300%-400% Here are just 3 examples. Papyrus painting...Hotel shop £62...Na'ama Bay £13; 100g bottle of perfume...Hotel £25/£30 (dependant upon a whim)...Na'ama Bay £20; Gold Nefertiti Pendant...Hotel shop £65...Na'ama Bay £25.

What a great hotel

from anonymous

We were also at the Conrad at the time of the bombings although this did not spoil our stay. The staff were brilliant and very caring, on the day of the bombings the general manager of the hotel himself visited all guests by the pool and offered his sincere apologies and offered every assistance he could.

The rooms were kept very clean and the animation team were exceptional despite during the second week of our stay when no one wanted to get involved with the activities.

CONRAD ALL INCLUSIVE 2005

We have just returned from the conrad and i have to say that the sea, weather, beach and snorkelling are fantastic.

The hotel rooms are clean and most of the staff polite and helpful. Tipping helps.

Beware of the mini bar - we were overcharged by £16 and it took some arguing to get it corrected. Tip: get it emptied and fill it with your own stuff bought from naama bay the cheapest or from the baron supermarket next door. Sample prices: galaxy bar 1.80 from your mini bar 30p from supermarket in shopping centre ground floor in naama bay. Can coke 1.50 mini bar, 80p from the baron and 25p from supermarket naama bay.

We found the food and drinks to be awful. Food was the same almost every lunch and dinnertime and was not very good. There is rice, chips ( ususally cold ) meat ( usually chicken or meat in sauce ) and loads of sea bass and calamari. Loads of cheese and salads. The deserts were better with more variety. Creme caramel lovely. Best night of food was mexican.

We ate out an the dannaneer steakhouse and seafood restaurant in naama bay and it was excellent. Try the chateau briaund £6 you get 5 big pieces of tenderloin which melt in your mouth!! There is hard rock cafe very cheap and pizza hut, kfc and mc donalds if you get desperate enough - and we did the food at the conrad is appauling!! We also had a meal at the indian restaurant at the baron hotel next door to the conrad. It was ok but i ordered chicken makhoni and expected it to be breast meat and it wasnt. The lamb rogan josh my husband and son had was good. It was worth it as we were sick of the food at the conrad by then so anything that tasted different was needed.

You wont be dissapointed with the beach, sea, snorkelling and hotel in itself but if you are hoping for good all inclusive you will be dissapointed.

The soft drinks are fanta, sprite and cola. The beer is ok. The cocktails are awful sickly and you cant taste and alcohol. Most of the spirits taste of nothing and very weak. Bring in your duty free.

After the bombings we felt safe at the conrad until gadaffi and all his bodyguards came to the hotel and we felt like we could have been a target. Also saw their guns on display and lots of armed police. The bodyguards took a liking to our teenage daughters and we had to watch them wherever they went.

The pool party on a tuesday night is the best entertainment for the kids - goes on till midnight with loud music and games.

I have been as honest in this review as possible and the price that this holiday cost reflects the food and drinks that you get.

Go to Sharm (CONRAD)

from anonymous

We were in Sharm at the start of our hols when the bombings took place. The Conrad (like many of the hotels in sharm) are some distance away from the busier parts (such as Sharm town and Naama Bay). The hotel is quite secure. Off the main road there is a barrier with a security guard, approx 50 meters after this is 12 foot metal gates, again with a security hut. The hotel has security staff on the entrance to the hotel with a thing you walk through like they have at the hotels. This was all in place before the bombings.The start of our hols were a little sad because of the events, all italians and Danish were sent home straight away, due to this the hotel was quite bare, the adjacent hotel (the Baron) was totally empty.

The hotel is lovely, beach big and beautiful, sea very warm, not too choppy so suitable for swimming, snorkelling etc. There is a PADI dive centre (SINAI DIVERS), excellent house reef. If qualified diver, and completed a dive check with instructor you can then do unaccompanied dives on the house reef (Ras Ghamila) which is brill. Loads of fish, corals etc. I've dived in maldives, Thailand etc but range of marine life excellent. Its agood idea to wear aqua shoes on the beach or when walking in the sea (a) sand is boiling hot and you can burn your feet (B) Even in knee depth water there are some sharp corals, even saw some lionfish and a stonefish in the day!!!

Food OK, I'm a strict veggie but still managed to eat ok. Staff are lovely.

Colnal Gadaffi (apologies if I've spelt this wrong) stayed at the resort while we were there (with about 20 security men) as an Arab Leaders meeting was due to take place. He had to fly back for funeral of King of Saudi, it did feel more secure when he wasn't there, despite his entourage. The hotel was nice, beach and sea brill, staff lovely, will be going back. The egyptians rely heavily on tourism and are upset by the bombings, i would go again, Sharm is lovely it would be a shame to miss out.

Fantastic

from anonymous

This hotel is about the friendliest,cleanest and nicest hotel I have ever stayed in, from the cleaners to the manager it would take a lot to beat the kindness shown from everyone in this hotel. We had the unfortunate events of the bombings and the whole staff in this hotel tried to make the guests feel as safe as possible and I am sure they must have been worried about their own families. The manager takes time to speak to the guests and even sits in your company if he has time at night, it was my sons 17th birthday on our last day there and the waiters brought a cake with his name on it to the dining room at lunch time and sang happy birthday and the manager sent a present to the dining room from all the staff of the hotel. I would recommend this hotel to young or old and when I go back to Egypt this hotel will definately be our first choice. We also paid the extra for the sea view and it was well worth it.

carol

Scotland

room 1111

Good week ,lovely place

from anonymous

stayed at the conrad and had a lovely week , place very clean and staff try hard to please ,just gone all inclusive ,and is still experimenting ,much to the dismay of the first choice guests,which we were.Bar closes at 11.00 oclock and any drinks after that are charged for ,they close bang on the dot,no leniency,no brand drinks ,all local ,not so good if you are not sweet toothed. Beer ok .a bit fizzy.The entertainment was not good either, a couple of singers who are really bad.We went into namma bay ,shopping and to drink on the shuttle bus ,which is only free at 11.00 in the morning,other times you pay.,brochure says free.

Meals ok could have been more choice ,but on the whole nice. My 9 year old daugter had a day of sickness and diarrohea,but got drugs from local pharmacy, and was ok after a day in the room ,we were bought breakfast but again charged ,nevermind, tried not to let it spoil our holiday .

I think reps should make it clear about the all inclusive ,as you don't know what is included or what is to be paid for.

Not a lot for the children ,only kids rep for italian children., popcorn and icecream charged for.

Weather great snorkling fantastic , coral reefs 10/10. would go to sharmel sheikh again but another hotel. This would be a great hotel if not so greedy with all the charges.

Conrad All inclusive May 2005

from Gazzab

Hi all

Just returned from 2 week All inclusive Holiday at Conrad...On arrival Airport not as bad as some reports although you will get Guys pulling your luggage off the Conveyor then asking for a tip and then when outside the Airport walking to the Coach you get asked again if they can carry your luggage for more tips but First choice reps are there to guide you too the Coaches so not to bad,But with Egypt you will need plenty of small change for tipping.The Hotel is pretty large with spacious rooms with TV,Fridge,A/C

Safe and clean towels everyday if needed and the cleaners keep the rooms very tidy and will knock in the evenings to ask if everything is Ok.Hotel has many cleaning Staff in the grounds,Beach and Pool areas who work hard to keep clean at all times and are very polite and friendly.The Entertainment is Major weak spot with much of it being repeated over your stay but Animation team work hard with Children to keep them amused.

The food is Ok but does taste different to what you expect and we had slight tummy upset for a couple of days but not to bad.The Bar staff do need more training on pouring drinks and getting measures correct, as Beer has alot of froth and to weak or to strong on Spirits but as they have only just started All inclusive I am sure they will improve!

There were quite a few Brits there while on our stay and alot of Italians but they have their own Entertaiment club and part of Beach.The Snorkeling is Top class from the Jetty and is so close to the Hotel...Just like swimming in a large Aquarium with outstanding Beauty and colour. Towels are provided for Pool and Beach free of charge so no need to take any whatsoever.

The Holiday was very enjoyable but location a little remote but there is a Shuttle into Naama Bay about half an Hour ride 75p Each way with great night life and plenty of places to Eat...A must!

Weather very Hot and one evening the Temp was 39 degrees on the Terrace and very sticky.We would certainly return too Sharm and the Conrad and the Egyptains are great people who love the Kids.

Please do not hesitate to ask more questions if needed and I will do my best.

Happy Holiday Regards Gazzab and Wife

Excellent for it's coral reef

from Craig39

Just returned from the Conrad. We had booked a premium room overlooking the beach and beautiful clear blue sea. I seroiusly recommend paying a bit extra for theses rooms, sitting out in the morning with a coffee watching the views was the best part of the holiday.

The rooms were a good size, but the bathroom needs some updating, everything worked OK but looks a little tired. Tea & coffee making facilities, cable TV (about 5 English speaking channels), in room safe and mini bar, air con etc.

We were AI, food was good to average, they tried to vary menu every day and most times their food was good (lots of fish to try) the staff were excellent apart from the odd serious faced one.

Hotel runs a shuttle bus to Naama Bay about 4 times a night starting at 5.30pm and the last one returns at 1.30am it costs 75p each way and takes approx. 30 minutes.

All in all a decent standard hotel with numerous facilities (was too hot to try most of them seeing as over 100 degrees every day!!), ideal for sun worshippers who want to relax and take it easy.

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Outstanding

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